Has the Christian Church forgotten its urban roots?

In the early days of Christianity, the church was urban. Today, especially in America, the church has fled the urban for the suburbs or the countryside.

In the early days of Christianity, the church was urban. Today, especially in America, the church has fled the urban for the suburbs or the countryside. The Atlantic Cities staff writer Emily Badger writes about a new book detailing that evolution and how its authors want to bring the church back to the city.

"Perhaps cities have become associated with secularism because there's so much else to worship there: either the promise of cities themselves, or the prospects for good jobs or other forms of success," Badger writes before quoting Justin Buzzard, founder of a nondenominational church in California's Silicon Valley: "I've got a lot of people in my church who move to Silicon Valley thinking once they had their big job at Apple or Google or Facebook or Twitter, or once they came up with their big startup idea, then they'd be ultimately, completely happy and satisfied," Buzzard says.

"A lot of what I deal with there is peoples' disillusion with the city." Buzzard and Stephen Um have coauthored Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture and the Church."

Matt is an enterprise team editor. Before, he wrote about faith how it is lived, how it intersects with society and how current trends affect religious practice. He has worked for more than 12 years as an editor, most more ..